A retired senior police officer is preparing to sue over a £750,000 legacy left by his wealthy uncle to a carer.

Former Scotland Yard superintendent John Armstrong plans to challenge the sum left by his 78-year-old relative to Linda Lawrence, 50.

The mother-of-two, who drives a Mercedes, was left the bulk of Philip Jones' £1.2million fortune after he changed his will in her favour a year before he died.

Former Scotland Yard superintendent John Armstrong plans to challenge his uncle Philip Jones' (left) decision to change his will and leave the bulk of his fortune to carer to Linda Lawrence, 50 (right)

As a well as a sum of £110,000, Mrs Lawrence received two flats and their contents, including jewellery, and the pensioner's stocks, shares and money in his bank accounts.

His family estimate she inherited up to £750,000 before tax.

Mr Jones had been a successful lawyer before retiring in the late 1990s to care for his wife Mary, who had Parkinson's disease.

As her health deteriorated, the childless couple were forced to hire carers. According to Mr Jones's family, Mrs Lawrence was one of these workers, hired on a cash-in-hand basis.

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Mr Armstrong, 52, from Hertfordshire, who was left £20,000, said: 'My uncle continued to use Linda's services after my auntie Mary's death, describing her to family members as 'the daughter he never had' and someone who he had very strong feelings for.

'But we became more concerned when he confided that he had given her an 'escape fund' in the hope they could start a new life together.

'He said he had paid for her and her family to go on holiday to Disneyland in Florida.' The nephew said any attempts to question Mrs Lawrence's motives were met with 'contempt and anger'.

His brother Chris, 55, a retired businessman, said he had visited his uncle every day in the 18 months leading up to his death.

The £1million Georgian farmhouse outside the Essex village of Little Clacton that pensioner Philip Jones shared with his wife before moving to a seafront retirement flat in nearby Frinton On Sea. He later bequeathed more than £700,000 to Linda Lawrence, his carer for several years before his death in August 2013

He said Mr Jones was 'besotted' with Mrs Lawrence, adding: 'He started talking about helping her pay off her mortgage. He had basically fallen head over heels in love with this woman. He wouldn't have a word said against her.

'He was totally convinced she was going to leave her husband and set up home with him, which is laughable … he was in a wheelchair and needed dialysis three times a week.'

The older nephew said Mr Jones's 'sudden' change to his will was 'very sad', adding: 'It is wrong. You shouldn't be able to do this in a position of trust. I think morally it is shocking and there should be some kind of legislation to stop this sort of thing happening.'

Mr Jones's will was altered in May 2012, just over a year before he died in August 2013. His two flats, in Frinton-on-Sea, Essex, were sold in autumn last year for £250,000 and £260,000 respectively, according to the Land Registry.

Before moving to a retirement flat in 1997, Mr Jones had lived in a five-bedroom 15th-century farmhouse near Clacton-on-Sea, which was on the market last year for £945,000.

Mrs Lawrence lives in a three-bedroom detached home worth £320,000 near Frinton-on-Sea with her husband Gary, 52.

When contacted by the Daily Mail, Mrs Lawrence said she would 'completely disagree' with any suggestion of impropriety but would not comment further.